With the holiday season upon us, leaders around the Air Force regularly use this time to remind its community and workforce that safety never takes a holiday.
With that same resolve, base leaders at Edwards were on hand Dec. 14 at the West Gate exit to wish Team Edwards motorists a happy holiday season and to remind the community to be safe as they depart for the holidays.
“This event is held each year as a reminder to all personnel to think of safety regardless of whether they are on the job or not, due in part to a higher risk of potential hazards that we primarily and especially see during the holiday season,” said Eddie Fletcher, an occupational safety specialist with the 412th Test Wing Ground Safety office.
Along with base leadership, this year’s group of greeters included civilian directors, chiefs, first sergeants, Army and Air Force Exchange Service personnel, to include personnel from the Air Force Test Center Flight Safety office, the entire 412th Test Wing Safety office and the 412th Security Forces Squadron.
“Although most people see this as annual greeting event, this is quite important,” Fletcher said. “As the employer, the base’s leadership has a genuine concern for its workforce and it also has the responsibility to provide a safe and healthful workplace for its workforce so this is just one of the ways they are able to do that.”
As part of the annual gate greeting, base leadership also disseminated more than 5000 information pamphlets courtesy of the Edwards Integrated Delivery System at all three gates. The pamphlets contained a description of the installation’s various helping agencies and their contact information. The IDS is the official Air Force name for all of the installation helping agencies.
“The holidays can be a stressful time of year for many and this is a way of providing information and resources to the Edwards community as they leave the gates on Friday, which many members use as the start day of their holiday break,” said Kim Shirley, IDS committee chair and 412th TW Sexual Assault Response Coordinator. “These pamphlets are there to remind people to be resilient during the difficult times and to remind the community that there are helping agencies that can assist them during their time of need should they have stressors not only during the holiday but year-around.”
In addition to counseling, Shirley said that there are also classes that are available to help people cope during and after the holiday season as well as provide information on how and where to seek help.
“Overall, people should remember that everyone should always think and plan with safety in mind and that everyone should have a Wingman or be a Wingman,” said Fletcher.
